Who will you follow?
Slave or free?
In the time we have had together this weekend we have been challenged considerably. We started out Friday evening comparing and contrasting the leadership qualities of Jesus Christ versus the religious leaders of His day. We followed that up with a close look at the Holy Trinity and the unique relationship they had with each other. We discovered or were reminded, that while each member of the Trinity is equal in worth, both God the Son and God the Spirit have subjugated themselves to another authority namely that of God the Father.
With that foundation laid down we were able to better appreciate Nick’s topic yesterday afternoon, the topic of the Biblical Structure of the home. While each member of the family is equal in worth, some are called to lead with love, while others are commanded to submit with humility.
Nick did a wonderful job yesterday afternoon confronting us parents in a loving way to model the characteristics of servant leadership in our homes, and just in case you took issue with anything he had to say, for a couple of bucks I could give you his phone number.
But, seriously this is a tough subject to work through. It is difficult to ponder the truths of leadership by biblical standards versus what the world portrays to true leadership. We have all seen countless movies or other dramatizations of the “My way or the highway,” screaming and cursing football coach who leads his team to victory through nothing but spite, or some other character who shows what some call “true grit.”
Might makes right we are told.
Where as we are told that is “real” leadership, we are taught something completely different in the pages of scripture. I hope that we have made that abundantly clear this weekend, I hope that we have challenged you to model, that which Christ has modeled, namely servant leadership.
But, Chris, some of you might be saying. I don’t really believe the Bible. I am not constrained the same way that you are to its teaching. Sure it is a book calling us to morality and for that I am grateful, but I am free to make my own choices, and to be honest I feel I am a pretty good person. I am not a murderer; I don’t make a habit out of lying. I obey the laws, and pay my taxes. I’m a good o’ boy or girl.
If you haven’t listened to what anyone else had to say this weekend, I pray you listen to the message this morning. The message I have prepared took on a life of its own. It isn’t the message I planned on preparing, but as I began working on it I really felt the Lord drawing me in this direction. I have probably prayed and pondered over this message more than any other I have prepared before.
We are surrounded by a culture that tells us that we can be our own person. Even within the circles of so called evangelism we hear cries of be the best person, you can be. We can have what we want, when we want it, and there are really no consequences for a selfish lifestyle of me, me, me. The common cry of the salesman is “Don’t you think you deserve this, or finally get what you have always deserved.” Unfortunately, that cry is becoming more and more the cry from behind the pulpit. But, is that what scripture teaches? Does the Bible really say that you can have your cake and eat it too?
No, here is the dichotomy that scripture teaches; what we truly do deserve, no one really wants, and what we really want we don’t really deserve. What we want is for everyone to follow our rules. We want to be the moral compass; we want all the power with none of the responsibility. And what we do indeed deserve, is eternal pain and suffering. Not a very popular stance. God has a very high standard for us to live, a perfect standard actually and no one sitting in here this morning has met that standard. And if we miss this standard, which we all have, God says there are eternal consequences for disobedience.
Now play along with me if you would. Some of you may be asking yourself what are God’s standards? (Wait for response) Well, thank you for asking; let’s take a look at them:
(Read from Bible) Exodus chapter twenty verses 1-17, “Then God spoke all these words, saying, 2’I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3You shall have no other gods before Me.
4You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the firth and the forth generations of those who hate me, 6but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
7You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
8Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.
13You shall not murder.
14You shall not commit adultery.
15You shall not steal.
16You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
So let’s review quickly the Ten Commandments are what?
1) You shall have no other Gods before me.
2) You shall not make yourself an idol.
3) You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain.
4) Remember the Sabbath.
5) Honor your father and mother.
6) You shall not murder.
7) You shall not commit adultery.
8) You shall not steal.
9) You shall not bear false witness (lie).
10) You shall not covet.
Look over them real quick. How do you fair? Well most of us would pass #6 I think. But, I know I have often in times coveted especially the latest and greatest of gadgets, like Tyler’s Blackberry. And much to my wife’s delight I am ok on #7. But, I know I have lied countless times, like if I were to say Tyler let me see that Blackberry, I promise I’ll give it back. This really would be breaking three of the commandments, coveting, lying and stealing.
I attend church every week as I am sure some of you do too. But, I have not always been honoring to my mom and dad, and neither have our ranch guys or they wouldn’t be here in the program.
But, I want you all to take a moment and look at these and really try to measure up. Still think you are a “good” person? (Pause for a moment)
I want you now to look at something Jesus said in Matthew 5:27, 28, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; 28but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.’”
So just by looking at a guy or girl lustfully, I have already committed adultery? Yup! A radical statement, and let’s be honest guys, we all have done that. So according to Jesus, all of us men have committed adultery. How do you look according to the Ten Commandments now?
Let’s just say for argument’s sake that you have never made an idol, never took the Lord’s name in vain, always honored your parents, never coveted Tyler’s Blackberry or anything else, not murdered, or looked after someone lustfully. You have always honored God as God, always honored the Sabbath; never stole a thing. But, there was a time (and since it is a fictional story it was a very long time ago, you were still in diapers) where you told a little white lie, nothing major, but it was dishonest none the less. I don’t think there is anyone like that on the entire planet, let alone in this small room. But, what if?
Listen to what Jesus’ own brother said. James 2:10 tells us, “For who ever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point he has become guilty of all.” If you have ever miss stepped, now matter how small the offense, no matter how short the time, no matter how long ago, you have become guilty of all the law!
Listen to Romans. A lot of us know these passages, but they are an important reminder. Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We see something similar in Romans 3:12, “All have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one.” This is a quote from both Psalm 14 and Psalm 51.
So, what if God doesn’t think that I am a good person, I think I am a good person. It is easy to feel that way in our culture. We are told from our earliest age that we are a by product of either our nature (how we are made), or our nurture (how we were raised). Either way our faults are to be blamed on our parents, after all their DNA produced who we are, or the way they brought us up did, or some combination of the two.
It’s all their fault.
Which kind of makes me laugh; we don’t give our parents credit for our accomplishments. Shouldn’t the same rules apply? Either their DNA or how they raised us really made us achieve what we did. That is the same argument, and yet no one wants to give someone else credit for the accomplishments, why then do they try to blame someone else for their short comings? You can’t have it both ways it is one or the other.
Make no mistake, our choices have a much bigger impact on who we are than we will hear from the society that surrounds us. And we know that to be true. We understand right and wrong, we understand good and evil. We were created by a God who leaves His imprints around and within us.
If you have been around me enough you will have heard these verses before. Romans 1:19, “Because that which is known about God is evident with them; for God has made it evident to them.” How does God make Himself evident to us? The very next verse says, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”
We can see God in creation, but is that the only place He makes Himself evident to us? Well I am glad you asked, Romans 2:15, “They show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.”
Ladies and Gentlemen: within each of us is enough of an understanding of God and His law for us to understand at any given time if what we are doing is right or wrong, honoring to God or honoring to ourselves, glorify God or serving our own selfish desires. Whether we have a relationship with Jesus Christ or not.
What does that mean? To surmise, we all understand that we are a sinful people. We all understand our need for a Savior. We all understand without it, we will suffer eternal consequences. Exodus 34:7b, “Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.” Romans 6:23a, “For the wages of sin is death.”
This is great Chris, as if I didn’t have enough complexes in my life thank you for showing me how ugly person I really am. That is not really my intent, but we need to all start from the same place. Before we can build and grow in any sort of faith we need to start from the same foundation. Believe me, I do feel like the last person who should be teaching on a subject like this, and that statement is not some attempt at false humility. I truly feel the closer I get to and the better I understand God, the more dirty and ugly I am.
We are in the same boat here. The only difference might be in our response to the texts we have read this morning. We need to ask ourselves who we are going to follow.
We now all have a choice; we can be a slave to sin. We can choose to not follow Christ; we can try to fool ourselves into being our own person. But, the fact of the matter is, that there is no such thing as being your own person. This was actually a major contributor to original sin.
Let us look back at the scene in the Garden of Eden. God finished His greatest creation, that of man, He gave Adam a companion, recognizing that it is not good for man to be alone. And then who enters the scene next? (Wait for response) The serpent right? And what does he say to Eve? (Wait for response) Yeah, he says God didn’t really say what He actually said. He plants a seed of doubt in Eve. He prompts Adam and Eve to disregard God’s authority and instead make a claim at their own authority, which they had no right to make.
Play by your own rules he says. Do what you want, get that thing that you have always deserved. (Remember the salesman’s greatest pitch that is sounded more and more often from behind the pulpit?) What did Adam and Eve do? They by the pitch hook, line and sinker. That sounds great, they said. I am always wanted to be in control, I have always to make my own rules.
The original sin wasn’t just a direct disobedience of God, though it was that, the underlining and greater offense was Adam and Eve’s attempt to over throw the throne. And instantly they and in turn all of us became slaves to sins powerful and unrelenting grasp.
I am not a slave to any one or anything. You are being a little hyper-critical of people. Slavery is not an image I am comfortable with, after all aren’t you aware of our history in this country, it still has repercussions today.
Yes, of course I am aware of the history of this country and yes, I am too a bit uneasy with the language, but it is not a word I choose to use. The Bible uses it; the Bible teaches that you are either a slave to sin or a slave to Christ. I am just doing my best to teach what scripture teaches.
Listen to Romans 6:6, “Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.” Now this might not be true of everyone in this room, but, if you know Christ as Lord and Savior of your life then he has freed you from the slavery of sin. If you don’t know Christ as Lord in your life then you are still a slave to sin. That what this verse is saying, they are not my words, but indeed the Word of God.
I wish I had time this morning to go through Romans chapter six in its entirety and all of its implications this morning but I do not. I would challenge all of you, however, to read it for yourself. It is a poetic song of joy for those of us who have Christ. It is a victorious march of His conquering of sin on our behalf. And it is a challenge to search your conscience for those who don’t know Christ as Lord and Savior. It is one of the most fantastic and one of my favorite chapters in the entire Bible.
I do, however, want to go to one more verse that I feel is the flip side of the coin to verse 6. Romans 6:22, says, “But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.”
Verse 22 says; that if Christ is Lord in our life, we are still slaves, but no longer slaves to sin, but slaves to Christ, God Himself. Verse six says that without Him we are slaves to sin. Verse 22 says that if we know Him, we are still slaves, but now we as slaves answer to a Master who cares for us.
We have seen clearly that the Word of God tells us that without following Christ, we are indeed being fooled by Satan and are slaves to sin. No matter what society would tell you, you are not your own person. If you choose to not follow Christ, you are choosing to be a slave to sin. You are not, nor can you be your own person.
How can a slave be his or her own person? A slave has a master he or she is to answer to. If you are sitting here this morning thinking you are your own man or woman, let me say you are a fool; you are actually a servant to a harsh master a master that goes by the name of sin.
There is a choice though; you can choose to follow a kind and gentle master, you can choose to follow a master who cares for you; Jesus Christ.
Let me ask you, what does a slave have to do? (Wait for an answer) Well, in short a slave does whatever the master asks of Him, especially if he wants to earn his masters favor. What does Christ our Master ask of us? Quite a lot actually, in John 14:15 Jesus says, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
Not just some of His commands, but all of them. Jesus asks a lot, He gave us a lot of commands. If any of you want a good read on this topic, I would encourage you to pick up a copy of John Piper’s book, What Jesus Demands from the World, it is a wonderful read.
But, in the context of this weekend, I would remind you that Christ, God the Son, led with love and He also submitted with humility. Even though He needn’t have submitted to anyone, He lived it out and He asks us to do the same.
If you are already following Christ, if He is already your Lord and Savior, how well are you emulating Him? Are you leading through servant-hood or are you brash and harsh with those He has entrusted to you?
If you do not know Him, let me ask, how does your master sin treat you? Does your master treat you with love and humility?
Today is the day to make a change. Change is never easy. No one likes change. We still though, are all called to be conformed into the image of Christ, and it is worth the struggle. The question now remains, to whom or what are you willing to follow? Or perhaps a better question is to whom or what are you a slave to?
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Servant Leadership of the Holy Trinity
Authority Structure of the Trinity
This morning we are going to talk about the subject of the Authority Structure of the Holy Trinity. But, before we begin, let me ask, was anyone else challenged last night?
I think Brent did a wonderful job of setting the stage for this weekend, so thank you Brent.
What might the Authority Structure of the Trinity have to do with Servant Leadership you might be asking yourself right now? Maybe a better way to say it is the relationship that the members of the Trinity had with one another. I hope to being laying some important ground work for what Nick will be talking about later today. He has the unique pleasure of speaking to you all about the Authority Structure of the Home from a biblical perspective, but none of that will matter at all with out the understanding that the Trinity too has an Authority Structure.
To start off this topic of the authority structure of the Trinity we need to first take some time to in greater detail explain the unique personhood of the Holy Trinity.
There are some important points that make up this very unique Holy Trinity. First there is but one true God. Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!”
Listen again to what the Lord says in Isaiah 45:5a, “I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God.”
And then there are Paul’s words in 1st Corinthians 8:4, “Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol on the world, and that there is no God but one.”
Second within this unique Godhead there are three persons. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
How does one plus one plus one equal one? Well God’s math is not the same as our own. You’ve heard the Biblical teaching of marriage. That, “the two shall become one flesh.” It is the same concept. The husband and wife do not literally become the same body. The two should become so close that they are in all intents and purposes they same person. Their thoughts, motives, experiences all driven by the will of God, who brought them together in the first place, there should be a single-mindedness about them.
It is foundational that we understand that when talking about the Holy Trinity that we do not make the mistake of making one plus one plus one equal three separate God’s, a concept known as poly-theism.
With that being said, the three persons of the Trinity have all the same qualities. Each is holy, each is all-powerful, each is all-knowing and each is ever-present.
The Father, the Son and the Spirit are each God, not each a God, but each The God. Believe it or not, this is a major debate amongst well know theologians, names some of you might recognize and it is of foundational importance for Christians especially American Christians to fight for this truth with every fiber of our being.
Here are some verses that argue the complex truth of the Holy Trinity.
Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth.”
In the original language of Hebrew the word of God used here is Elohim. It is God in the plural form.
Genesis 1:26a, “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our imagine, according to Our likeness.’”
If God is using a pluralization, who is He talking to? Well combine this verse with what we saw in Deuteronomy, Isaiah or 1st Corinthians and the obvious answer is He is talking to the other members of the Trinity. There is only one God and yet there are multiple beings at the time of creation. The only logical reasoning for this is that God is speaking to the other persons of the Trinity.
Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Of course the Word is Jesus Christ, John is telling us that Jesus was there at the moment of creation, not that He was created but that He took part in the creation process.
Listen to Colossians 1:16, 17, “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
Paul is supporting John chapter one here. He is telling us that through Christ creation was, well created. Not only that but it is through His power that we are still held together. It reminds me of that Louie Giglio video, remember Laminin? If you have no idea what I am talking about you need to check out that video, it is titled How Great is Our God, it will blow your mind! It still gives me goose bumps to think about.
Moving on, Matthew 3:16, 17, “After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, 17and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” Here we see each member of the Trinity in the same scene. God the Son is being baptism, God the Spirit descends and God the Father speaks.
And finally Romans 8:28-30, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”
This last passage in my opinion is one of the strongest passages there is that proves that the Spirit and Son are indeed God. Only God, our creator can or even has the right to bring us to salvation, and here we see the role each member of the Trinity has in bringing us to a saving faith. Let’s look at it again:
Romans 8:28-30, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30and these whom He predestined (The Father’s work), He also called (The Spirit’s work); and these whom He called, He also justified (The Son’s work); and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”
Only God our creator who is omni-present, not just in place but also in time has the power and sight to predestine us to salvation. Only He can call us to salvation. In Matthew Jesus says the Father draws us to Him. And only God can call us justified in His sight and that is what Jesus accomplished on the cross. Not only is our sinful account cleared, but Christ’s perfect account is credited to us.
Only God can accomplish those things, and each member of the Trinity has a role to play in our salvation. Each part of the Trinity is equal. Each was there at creation. And each deserves our worship and gratitude.
I know this was a really quick fly by of teaching on the roles of the Holy Trinity but, I hope that I have succinctly established the truth of the person of the Godhead; now let us move toward the relationship they have with one another.
One of the major characteristics that are shown in the relationship of the Holy Trinity is that of submission. I know that that word, submission has a negative connotation in our society. No one likes to have to submit. However much we have a distaste for that word; we are still required to submit too many people, if we fail to do so we run the risk of consequences, another word no one likes.
We are required to submit to our parents or we run the risk missing out on earthly and heavenly blessings; Nick will talk about this some more later. We are required to submit to our bosses or we run the risk of losing our jobs. We are required to submit to governing authorities or we run the risk of fines or incarceration. The list could go on and on.
But the question remains, why should we submit to anyone? It’s a dog eat dog world after all, besides I don’t see it modeled for me, you might say. I would respond to such questioning, by saying, we are to be a servant least of all because God says so. But, also because it is indeed modeled for us if we only take a deeper look into the pages of the Holy Scriptures.
In John chapter 16 Jesus tells us that the Spirit who He calls the Helper is submissive in nature. Listen to John 16:7-15, “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; 9concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; 11and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. 12I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.”
There is some really good meat, in here that I want to point out from this passage. First check out verse 7, the Spirit came because of what reason? (Wait for response) Yeah, He didn’t come on His own accord, but He came because Christ sent Him. He obeyed, He submitted.
Second, look at verse 13, who’s authority is the Spirit speaking from? (Wait for response) Yeah, the Helper has not come to speak from His initiatives but whose? (Wait for response)
It is vital again to point out, that the Spirit has the authority to speak on His own. He is a part of the one true God. He shares the same qualities that God the Father shares, and yet, the Helper does not speak from His initiative. Only what He hears the Father speak does He speak. In a word the Spirit submits.
And lastly, look at verse 14, the Helper has come to what? (Wait for response) Yeah, He came to glorify who? (Wait for response) He came to glorify another, not Himself. Though the Holy Spirit has every right to glorify Himself, after all He was at the beginning, He has all the attributes of God the Father and God the Son, yet He chooses to glorify another.
Let us turn now to the attitude of Christ. Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew what is commonly called the Lord’s Prayer, most of you know it, and it goes like this:
Our Father who is in heaven
Hallowed be Your name
Your Kingdom come
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts
As we also have forgiven our debtors
And do not lead us into temptation
But deliver us from evil
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever. Amen
Notice what Jesus was in the forth line. Jesus isn’t merely simply acknowledging that indeed God’s will, will be done, but He is asking God for His will to be done.
Listen to what Jesus has to say about servant hood in Matthew 19:30, “But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.”
If you always put yourself number one, always want to be the top dog and never consider others more than yourself, Christ says in the end, come judgment time your account will be nothing. However, if you will humble yourself, be a servant to others you will be exalted in heaven.
Again listen to Christ’s teaching in Luke 22:24-27, “And there arose also a dispute among them (the disciples) as to which one of them was regarded as the greatest. 25And He said to them, ‘The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ 26But it is not that way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. 27For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.’”
But, perhaps more important than Jesus’ teaching on servant leadership is that fact that He absolutely modeled it for us. In John chapter 13 we find the story of Jesus washing the feet of His disciples. It was a scene of immense humility if there ever was one. The Lord of creation, the author of our salvation took time to literally stoop down before those He was about to rescue, and He performed something that only the lowest of house servants carried out. To help us understand the feet washing a little better it is important for us to remember that in those times people wore sandals, most if not all shoes were open shoes, no laces, no socks.
The roads that they walked on were dusty and dirty, often times covered with animal waste. You can understand why only the lowest of servants ever performed this action, and yet Jesus washed dirt, and waste off of His disciples feet.
And then He says in John 13:14, 15, “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.”
Jesus wasn’t only telling His disciples to continue to wash one another’s feet, though he was telling them to do that. He was telling them to live a life of submission to one another, to think of others as more worthy than themselves, to truly be servants.
Jesus also says in John 4:34, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.” That is quite the statement. Jesus obviously wasn’t saying that He didn’t ever eat anything. What might He be saying? (Wait for response) Exactly, I think what Christ is saying is this: He is so moved to do the Father’s will that it sustains Him. How many of you in here today have ever been on some sort of fast in their life? Go ahead and raise your hands. (Wait for a show of hands) And I don’t mean as a means to lose weight. If you have perhaps you can understand where Christ is coming from.
There is a life sustaining power when you are so connected to God; that your entire purpose, your entire being is to do His will. That is what Christ is teaching.
Finally, listen to the prayer of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. It is something many of you have heard before I am sure. Jesus says in Matthew 26:39, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”
Jesus, who though was God, was also 100% man. He knew what was ahead of Him. He knew the beating He was about to endure. He knew the excruciating pain He was about to face. He wanted no part of it. He told the Father He didn’t want to have to go through it. But, He also understood what His Father’s will was; and the importance of what was about to take place.
And so, Jesus, submitted!
God, Jesus, understood His Father’s will and put it ahead of His own will. Now might be an appropriate time to ask the question, when is the last time that you did that? When did you put someone’s will ahead of your own?
We can see that clearly that Christ has not only taught, but also lived out the attribute of submission. Is it always easy? Of course not! But, whether something is easy or not does not ever release us from the responsibility to do it.
In closing, either one, the Spirit of God, or Jesus Christ could have lead by walking around and carrying a big stick. We all countless times could have been snuffed out, had our lives ended for disobedience and rightly so. God says that the punishment for disobedience is death. However, Christ modeled something different entirely. He modeled to us that we should lead through submission. That is a radical thought in our society these days.
But the flip side of the equation is that there are certain people who wield more authority than others. It isn’t my standard; it isn’t even Nick’s or Brent’s standard. The standard we are to live by is the one that is laid out before us in the Holy Scriptures, namely the standard modeled to us in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
Are you willing to be led by those who are an authority to you? Are you willing to use the authority you have been given properly? Are you willing to submit to those authorities God says you are to submit to?
This morning we are going to talk about the subject of the Authority Structure of the Holy Trinity. But, before we begin, let me ask, was anyone else challenged last night?
I think Brent did a wonderful job of setting the stage for this weekend, so thank you Brent.
What might the Authority Structure of the Trinity have to do with Servant Leadership you might be asking yourself right now? Maybe a better way to say it is the relationship that the members of the Trinity had with one another. I hope to being laying some important ground work for what Nick will be talking about later today. He has the unique pleasure of speaking to you all about the Authority Structure of the Home from a biblical perspective, but none of that will matter at all with out the understanding that the Trinity too has an Authority Structure.
To start off this topic of the authority structure of the Trinity we need to first take some time to in greater detail explain the unique personhood of the Holy Trinity.
There are some important points that make up this very unique Holy Trinity. First there is but one true God. Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!”
Listen again to what the Lord says in Isaiah 45:5a, “I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God.”
And then there are Paul’s words in 1st Corinthians 8:4, “Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol on the world, and that there is no God but one.”
Second within this unique Godhead there are three persons. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
How does one plus one plus one equal one? Well God’s math is not the same as our own. You’ve heard the Biblical teaching of marriage. That, “the two shall become one flesh.” It is the same concept. The husband and wife do not literally become the same body. The two should become so close that they are in all intents and purposes they same person. Their thoughts, motives, experiences all driven by the will of God, who brought them together in the first place, there should be a single-mindedness about them.
It is foundational that we understand that when talking about the Holy Trinity that we do not make the mistake of making one plus one plus one equal three separate God’s, a concept known as poly-theism.
With that being said, the three persons of the Trinity have all the same qualities. Each is holy, each is all-powerful, each is all-knowing and each is ever-present.
The Father, the Son and the Spirit are each God, not each a God, but each The God. Believe it or not, this is a major debate amongst well know theologians, names some of you might recognize and it is of foundational importance for Christians especially American Christians to fight for this truth with every fiber of our being.
Here are some verses that argue the complex truth of the Holy Trinity.
Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth.”
In the original language of Hebrew the word of God used here is Elohim. It is God in the plural form.
Genesis 1:26a, “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our imagine, according to Our likeness.’”
If God is using a pluralization, who is He talking to? Well combine this verse with what we saw in Deuteronomy, Isaiah or 1st Corinthians and the obvious answer is He is talking to the other members of the Trinity. There is only one God and yet there are multiple beings at the time of creation. The only logical reasoning for this is that God is speaking to the other persons of the Trinity.
Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Of course the Word is Jesus Christ, John is telling us that Jesus was there at the moment of creation, not that He was created but that He took part in the creation process.
Listen to Colossians 1:16, 17, “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
Paul is supporting John chapter one here. He is telling us that through Christ creation was, well created. Not only that but it is through His power that we are still held together. It reminds me of that Louie Giglio video, remember Laminin? If you have no idea what I am talking about you need to check out that video, it is titled How Great is Our God, it will blow your mind! It still gives me goose bumps to think about.
Moving on, Matthew 3:16, 17, “After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, 17and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” Here we see each member of the Trinity in the same scene. God the Son is being baptism, God the Spirit descends and God the Father speaks.
And finally Romans 8:28-30, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”
This last passage in my opinion is one of the strongest passages there is that proves that the Spirit and Son are indeed God. Only God, our creator can or even has the right to bring us to salvation, and here we see the role each member of the Trinity has in bringing us to a saving faith. Let’s look at it again:
Romans 8:28-30, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30and these whom He predestined (The Father’s work), He also called (The Spirit’s work); and these whom He called, He also justified (The Son’s work); and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”
Only God our creator who is omni-present, not just in place but also in time has the power and sight to predestine us to salvation. Only He can call us to salvation. In Matthew Jesus says the Father draws us to Him. And only God can call us justified in His sight and that is what Jesus accomplished on the cross. Not only is our sinful account cleared, but Christ’s perfect account is credited to us.
Only God can accomplish those things, and each member of the Trinity has a role to play in our salvation. Each part of the Trinity is equal. Each was there at creation. And each deserves our worship and gratitude.
I know this was a really quick fly by of teaching on the roles of the Holy Trinity but, I hope that I have succinctly established the truth of the person of the Godhead; now let us move toward the relationship they have with one another.
One of the major characteristics that are shown in the relationship of the Holy Trinity is that of submission. I know that that word, submission has a negative connotation in our society. No one likes to have to submit. However much we have a distaste for that word; we are still required to submit too many people, if we fail to do so we run the risk of consequences, another word no one likes.
We are required to submit to our parents or we run the risk missing out on earthly and heavenly blessings; Nick will talk about this some more later. We are required to submit to our bosses or we run the risk of losing our jobs. We are required to submit to governing authorities or we run the risk of fines or incarceration. The list could go on and on.
But the question remains, why should we submit to anyone? It’s a dog eat dog world after all, besides I don’t see it modeled for me, you might say. I would respond to such questioning, by saying, we are to be a servant least of all because God says so. But, also because it is indeed modeled for us if we only take a deeper look into the pages of the Holy Scriptures.
In John chapter 16 Jesus tells us that the Spirit who He calls the Helper is submissive in nature. Listen to John 16:7-15, “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; 9concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; 11and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. 12I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.”
There is some really good meat, in here that I want to point out from this passage. First check out verse 7, the Spirit came because of what reason? (Wait for response) Yeah, He didn’t come on His own accord, but He came because Christ sent Him. He obeyed, He submitted.
Second, look at verse 13, who’s authority is the Spirit speaking from? (Wait for response) Yeah, the Helper has not come to speak from His initiatives but whose? (Wait for response)
It is vital again to point out, that the Spirit has the authority to speak on His own. He is a part of the one true God. He shares the same qualities that God the Father shares, and yet, the Helper does not speak from His initiative. Only what He hears the Father speak does He speak. In a word the Spirit submits.
And lastly, look at verse 14, the Helper has come to what? (Wait for response) Yeah, He came to glorify who? (Wait for response) He came to glorify another, not Himself. Though the Holy Spirit has every right to glorify Himself, after all He was at the beginning, He has all the attributes of God the Father and God the Son, yet He chooses to glorify another.
Let us turn now to the attitude of Christ. Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew what is commonly called the Lord’s Prayer, most of you know it, and it goes like this:
Our Father who is in heaven
Hallowed be Your name
Your Kingdom come
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts
As we also have forgiven our debtors
And do not lead us into temptation
But deliver us from evil
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever. Amen
Notice what Jesus was in the forth line. Jesus isn’t merely simply acknowledging that indeed God’s will, will be done, but He is asking God for His will to be done.
Listen to what Jesus has to say about servant hood in Matthew 19:30, “But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.”
If you always put yourself number one, always want to be the top dog and never consider others more than yourself, Christ says in the end, come judgment time your account will be nothing. However, if you will humble yourself, be a servant to others you will be exalted in heaven.
Again listen to Christ’s teaching in Luke 22:24-27, “And there arose also a dispute among them (the disciples) as to which one of them was regarded as the greatest. 25And He said to them, ‘The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ 26But it is not that way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. 27For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.’”
But, perhaps more important than Jesus’ teaching on servant leadership is that fact that He absolutely modeled it for us. In John chapter 13 we find the story of Jesus washing the feet of His disciples. It was a scene of immense humility if there ever was one. The Lord of creation, the author of our salvation took time to literally stoop down before those He was about to rescue, and He performed something that only the lowest of house servants carried out. To help us understand the feet washing a little better it is important for us to remember that in those times people wore sandals, most if not all shoes were open shoes, no laces, no socks.
The roads that they walked on were dusty and dirty, often times covered with animal waste. You can understand why only the lowest of servants ever performed this action, and yet Jesus washed dirt, and waste off of His disciples feet.
And then He says in John 13:14, 15, “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.”
Jesus wasn’t only telling His disciples to continue to wash one another’s feet, though he was telling them to do that. He was telling them to live a life of submission to one another, to think of others as more worthy than themselves, to truly be servants.
Jesus also says in John 4:34, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.” That is quite the statement. Jesus obviously wasn’t saying that He didn’t ever eat anything. What might He be saying? (Wait for response) Exactly, I think what Christ is saying is this: He is so moved to do the Father’s will that it sustains Him. How many of you in here today have ever been on some sort of fast in their life? Go ahead and raise your hands. (Wait for a show of hands) And I don’t mean as a means to lose weight. If you have perhaps you can understand where Christ is coming from.
There is a life sustaining power when you are so connected to God; that your entire purpose, your entire being is to do His will. That is what Christ is teaching.
Finally, listen to the prayer of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. It is something many of you have heard before I am sure. Jesus says in Matthew 26:39, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”
Jesus, who though was God, was also 100% man. He knew what was ahead of Him. He knew the beating He was about to endure. He knew the excruciating pain He was about to face. He wanted no part of it. He told the Father He didn’t want to have to go through it. But, He also understood what His Father’s will was; and the importance of what was about to take place.
And so, Jesus, submitted!
God, Jesus, understood His Father’s will and put it ahead of His own will. Now might be an appropriate time to ask the question, when is the last time that you did that? When did you put someone’s will ahead of your own?
We can see that clearly that Christ has not only taught, but also lived out the attribute of submission. Is it always easy? Of course not! But, whether something is easy or not does not ever release us from the responsibility to do it.
In closing, either one, the Spirit of God, or Jesus Christ could have lead by walking around and carrying a big stick. We all countless times could have been snuffed out, had our lives ended for disobedience and rightly so. God says that the punishment for disobedience is death. However, Christ modeled something different entirely. He modeled to us that we should lead through submission. That is a radical thought in our society these days.
But the flip side of the equation is that there are certain people who wield more authority than others. It isn’t my standard; it isn’t even Nick’s or Brent’s standard. The standard we are to live by is the one that is laid out before us in the Holy Scriptures, namely the standard modeled to us in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
Are you willing to be led by those who are an authority to you? Are you willing to use the authority you have been given properly? Are you willing to submit to those authorities God says you are to submit to?
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